All is fair in love and humanities
by W-IIV
Summary: Croix loves history, loves teaching it too. Now if only her rival teacher Chariot stopped stealing her potential gcse students every year thus causing her to continue this 'War of the humanities' they have then life would be great. (Alternatively: Charoix modern teacher au of pure indulgence with history vs geography rivalry with a plot?)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Somewhere last week I came up with something very indulgent, a few days later I asked my followers thoughts on should I write something or not? I was told to do it and follow my dreams so I guess here we are lmao. Charoix indulgence and history, cause I'm a history nerd lmao, anyways enjoy!**

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Croix smiled to herself as she watched her first class walk through the door. They talked to each in whispers, close comments as they filled her classroom which she currently wasn't in. No, she was on the other end of the corridor, watching her class come in the room where they would be confused to find no teacher. Their teacher, her in fact, would be doing something far more important. She peered into the geography room closest to her and saw students preparing stuff and chatting and more importantly, no teacher to supervise.

She grinned to herself as she opened the door and let herself in, the students quickly fell into silence as she walked by, eyeing the small container of pen markers on the predictable neat and tidy desk. "Don't mind me, please carry on chatting." She said as she got the green marker and wrote all over the whiteboard, WELCOME BACK ARTIST DU NORD? READY FOR MORE COLOURING IN?

She smiled at her handiwork before turning round to the random students she will forget in around 5 minutes. "Please don't rub this out, now excuse me I must get going." She said as she replaced the markers in the pot with her own, homemade markers. The ones that when used doesn't just squeaks when used in against a whiteboard, it squawks like a bird but only in random intervals. She hummed as she walked to her own class, not at all surprised at the loud bickering she probably caused that came from it but before she entered it and diffused the entire fight she stopped near the open door and listened.

"There is not a word on the ceiling!"

"Yes there is! Just look! There is the word gullible on the ceiling!"

"Like I said before Akko, I won't fall for that obvious trick again."

Yep, that's her cue. Without warning Croix waltzed right in her room and slammed the door shut behind her which, to her utter most delight, made a few people jump. "Rule 1 of History!" She declared as vaulted over the desk to get to the middle of the horseshoe seating design. "Always check the facts for yourself." She looked up and pointed to the word on the ceiling all the while looked at the students around her with a smile. "That right there, means gullible in Japanese." Before someone can prove her wrong she pulled out a remote control from her blazer pocket and pointed it at the whiteboard that had the words: GULLIBLE IS ON THE CEILING. Within seconds the projector whirled to life and displayed the google translation from english to japanese of the word gullible over the big writing on the board.

"Now if we were to settle down at any random seat, we shall begin today's lesson since we already wasted 10 minutes." She ordered as she sat on an empty desk near the front of the room and faced everyone. "Not that I care, I'm not Professor Lukic I won't be inflicting rules on the first day though please be aware if you are more than 10 minutes late I will ask an explanation after the lesson."

She noted the change of looks with a few of them, whilst some were passive, most were attentive whilst a few were eager and excited. "My name, if you haven't heard and if you haven't please do tell me, is Meridies." Croix paused and waited to see if people heard of her and her stories before. Not to her surprise, the blond girl with hair full of curls on the far left of her, narrowed at the name before it disappeared the moment Croix caught her. Croix smirked at her, recognising her as Diana Cavendish, one of the renowned and most student student in the year and perhaps the year above before looking away to the rest of the claas.

"But I'm sure you may know me more as Croix."

Like a bullet fired, the reaction was instantaneous. A girl on the far right with spiked amber hair and a not tucked in shirt stared at her with wide eyes and a jaw dropped. Croix recognised the look and registered her as none other than Amanda O'Neill, someone who gotten a fair bit of record in term of detentions and isolations, some Croix thought were unjustified. Another girl, the one near her in fact with long brown hair and a small ponytail, slammed her hands on the table with wide eyes. "You're Croix!"

"I'm glad my reputation precedes me," Croix laughed as she went off the table, straightened her clothes and faced everyone again. "So, who heard of me and what for? Please state names as well even if a few of you are recognisable."

"Amanda O'Neill!" Amanda said as she turned to the people next to her, "Cons, Jas and I heard you blew up the school when you went here years ago!" Croix winced at the rumour, not the greatest thing to start it off, since it was blown way out of proportions but it looked like it caught most people's attention. "And that you said fuck you to Finneran before as well."

"Okay first of all, no swearing in class and please address my co workers as Mr, Mrs, Mx or as professor, me included." Croix intervened with apologetic look and a shrug, "Wouldn't look good on you or me if you did that Amanda. Also I did not blow up the whole school when I went here but I did say that to Ms Finneran when she taught me but that is a story for another time, I have a feeling though you might enjoy it."

"I heard you fought Ms Finneran over a cape once." Jasminka said next to her, Croix nodded towards the lavender haired girl next to Amanda who was currently in the process of eating a potato chip. "Oh, my name is Jasminka Antonenko."

"That is actually true and funny story I won that fight. You can see it though when we got a charity event." Croix laughed, subconsciously noting the russian accent as she turned to the other person Amanda addressed. She was a small girl with a ponytail and was currently unpacking a board from her bag and began to write on it. Croix's eyes widened, "Oh don't worry!" She said as she brought her hands to her chest and started signing with them. " _I know and can understand sign well so you don't need to write on the board unless you want to though._ "

The small girl, stared at the hands, mouth wide open before she looked up to reach Croix's understanding smile and beamed. It made Croix's heart melt. " _My name is Constanze Amalie von Braunschbank-Albrechtsberger and I heard you scared Professor Lukic with robots."_

Croix laughed, nodding as she did so, "Yes Constanze, I did scare Professor Lukic with robots a few years ago, it was on halloween so I was valid." Croix clapped her hands together as she turned to the other students. "Now does anyone have any wonderful stories you heard about me before I start the lesson." She downright cackled when everyone else's hands shot up from the ground like it was a fast growing bamboo grove. "Alright random pick!" She called as she closed her eyes and spun around the room with her hand outstretched. "When I learn everyone's names I just use the hat but for now I will just pick you!"

When she opened her eyes, she found herself face to face with the girl who slammed her hands on the desk as a response to her being the one and only Croix Meridies. Croix smiled as she lowered her hand, eagerly waiting to see story or rumour made her create a reaction like that. "So, what have you heard about me…?" She asked, leading her on to at least say her name.

The young girl smiled at her nervously before looking at her friends, a speckled gingered one to her left and a dark skinned, purple haired girl to her right. "So uh, my name is Atsuko Kagari- but you can call me Akko!" She points to her left, "She's Lotte Yanson." Lotte does a small wave as a hello and Croix nods back in acknowledgement, turning her head to see Akko pointing at the girl on her right. "And she's Sucy Mavaran? No, thats wrong sorry Sucy, Maba-"

"Manbavaran," Sucy corrected, her voice more detached and indifferenced than what Croix initially imagined. "Nice try though but you're deflecting again."

Akko laughed nervously, a finger scratching her cheek as she looks up at Croix. "Am I?"

Croix gets it straight away, Akko was too nervous to speak, random pick isn't the greatest thing and would often make students panic and flounder if it was them. Damn, she was an idiot for using it on the first day. Croix shook her head, "No it's alright if you don't to share anything, it's perfectly fine Akko."

"No!" Akko bursted out, "I mean- I do know something but I… uh, don't want to impose?"

Croix waved her off, "I've heard everything Akko, from being a secret agent to being a witch, even if it is a rumour it's fine to share it." Croix paused again before carefully adding, "That is if you want to, like I said you don't need to share if you don't want to."

"Well, I just heard- uh…" Akko stared at the desk, cheeks flushed and her hands fidgeting on her hand. Croix raised a brow at the sight, her curiosity killing her on what rumour or gossip about her is so juicy that its burning her cheeks this way. "I just heard you and Professor Chariot have some sort of history?"

Ahhh. Yeah she now sees why. So the saying was right, curiosity did kill the cat, after all she wishes to do nothing more than die right now and traumatise the kids as she does so. She better not be blushing about the statement, oh gosh she was, it's the smallest heat on her cheeks but it was still something!

"This, is uh, something I haven't really heard of, or well phrased in that way," Croix laughed as she looked up to the ceiling and just for the hell of it read the word gullible up there, rubbing the back of her neck as she does so. "So kudos for that I guess Akko."

"Anyways," she coughed to her fist to regain control of the situation, if she ever lost it, not that she will ever admit to ever losing it. "Despite the rumours, and there will be a lot of rumours you will suddenly hear, me and Professor Chariot have no history whatsoever."

"Croix where have you placed my markers!?" Chariot asked as she slammed open the door and marched right up to her. From the corner of her eye she can see a few students snicker about the uncanny timing of the whole situation.

If she was a better teacher she would tell them off right now, enforce some sort of rule but if she was a better teacher she wouldn't steal her markers in the first place for a petty, mischievous reason. If she was a better person on the other hand, she would just laugh and give it back there and then but if she was that kind of person she would live without seeing the wild fire in Chariot's ruby eyes and that's something she can't afford to live without. Therefore, she must do what she needs to do, even if it only fuels the flames of Akko's comment.

"I have no idea what you are talking about professor Du Nord." She said calmly with a nice smile on her face, a nice smile that was full of shit and they both knew.

Chariot stared at her, fist clench and teeth bared and Croix smiled so innocently back, admiring the lively fire in her eyes that only wish to burn her alive like she was Joan of Arc in 1431. Instead of saying something, anything that would lead them on a tangent of taunts, smirks and raised brows, Chariot grabbed her binary designed tie and yanked her forward. "I have no time for games Croix," She said as she pushed her forehead and grind it against her own, messing up Croix's hair in the process. Well, looks like someone wants to give the wrong impression, again.

"There's always time for a bit of games Chariot my dear," Croix shrugged as her lips curled upwards in a coy, taunting manner, using her dazzling smile to distract Chariot and undo her tie in a way to escape. She then placed her hands in her blazer pockets as she walked backwards, the sound of rattling came from them as Croix smiled, shaking the content purposely when Chariot eyed them. "Care to play?"

As she expected, Chariot didn't budge just yet. No if she was this easy to rile up and cause a scene they both would've been kicked out of the school years ago. She knows the line to not cross with new spectators, the same way Croix knew she just sighed and rubbed out her nice welcome message in her room. After all, this year is just the start of the show for the kids for the next three years.

Chariot just stared at her, analysing the situation as Croix smirked back with a raised brow and as she shook her pockets once more. "Tock Tick Chariot," Croix sang, amused at the bristle of not only Chariot's body but the other students when she phrased the iconic line wrong. "We don't got all day."

"You're right," Chariot agreed, a knowing smile on her face that made Croix somewhat worry. She knows that look, she understands the language of Chariot's various looks and smiles more than she understands italian; and that's saying something considering it's her first language. That look meant she found something to use against her, a weapon or some hole she overlooked and that meant this little game would come to an end, quicker than she expected.

Chariot twirled the tie in her hands and in that split second, Croix knew what she missed out. "You give me my pens back and you can have your tie back," Yep, she shouldn't undid it in the first place and they both know where this would end, especially since Chariot grinned at her in a pre victory way before she stopped twirling one of her favourite ties and winked. "It will be an equivalent exchange."

Damn, she throws an anime reference too. Chariot was right, she isn't playing any games today… but Croix would not be Croix Meridies if she wasn't going to at least try and bluff her way through. "And what would happen if I don't?" Croix grinned, completely ignoring the deadpan look on Chariot's face.

"Then I will go back to my room, use your pens on your tie and if Professor Finneran asks why you aren't wearing proper work clothes then have fun explaining what you did." Chariot explained, ending the "threat" with a sweet innocent smile that Croix really wouldn't mind wiping off her face.

"Fine," Croix submitted with a sigh as she tossed back a few of the markers in her pockets. She tried not to look so pleased when Chariot beamed whilst she placed the markers in her breast pocket. The little game they played today was short and she did lose but it was fun, despite how petty and time wasting this thing is, it was and shall always be fun. "Now can you pass me back my tie Chariot?"

Except when Chariot grinned at her like that. The way she looked at her with fake surprise and a gentle smirk on her lips, it was a look that meant Chariot wasn't done with her just yet. "I could…" she hummed, pressing her glasses back into place as she 'thought' about the situation. "But I won't." She said flippantly as she walked towards the exit, leaving Croix to splutter in confusion.

"You said it was an equivalent exchange!" Croix called out as she went after but only stopping at the entrance to her room, ignoring the different reactions to her chasing after the geography teacher: Sucy and Amanda's snicker, Lotte's hidden swooning and Diana's unamused glare at them.

"It wasn't equivalent exchange when it was first used in the anime remember!" Chariot called back, her laughter filling the corridor.

"But what about Finneran!"

"Headmistress Holdbrooke said that she won't be in for today, didn't you listen at the staff meeting this morning?" Chariot grinned, laughing at Croix's sigh and head hanging in self shame. "Hey Croix," Chariot called making Croix lift her head up. Chariot dangled the tie in her hands before she tied into into a ball and flung it across the room, hitting Croix straight in the face before heading back inside her room without a single word. Croix chuckled to herself, looking at the knotted ball of what was once a tie in her hand before she went in and closed the door behind her.

"No history whatsoever right?" Amanda asked as she leant back on her chair, hands behind her head. Croix laughed as she shook her head, walking back to the front of the class, going the long route to make Amanda not lean on her chair anymore.

"Okay, so I may have lied a little." Croix admitted with a shrug as she threw her knotted tie on her spinning chair. "But I was going to tell you soon, or at least you were going to find out soon but not this quickly." She faced everyone, once more sitting on the closest free table near her. "Professor Chariot and I have what everyone in the school dubbed, 'war of the humanities' and in those terms, we do have a history of what you just saw-"

"Blatant flirting in front of a bunch of teenagers." Sucy commented, making everyone, including Croix herself laugh.

"That's a good one," Croix acknowledged before she sobered up and talked in a more serious tone. "But no, no matter what you believe, we do not have a romantic history or anything else like that. We just have a small rivalry on which humanity is better, geography or history? And this war is more than just petty things we do against each other by the way, it's also a way for us to improve our teaching to you in our respective subjects, which is important because…."

Croix reached for her remote on the table and used it go to a presentation she made on Prezi. Behind her head she heard several people groan at the heading of the presentation which was definitely valid: Geography or History? What to choose for GCSE?

"This is the reason why you never had me before by the way," Croix commented as she stood up and sat on her spinning chair in the front corner of the room where her desk was. "Unless I was covering someone, I don't teach years 7 and 8 cause I only focus on GCSE history but I take year 9 so that I am familiar with everyone and maybe could help you decide the better option, which is history of course."

"I know it's the first day in the new school year and I won't pressure you to make a choice but I will do a quick run down for a few things and what I will do and what we would cover this year." She paused when she found the GCSE explanation page on the presentation. "Such as GCSE also uncommonly known as the General Certificate of Secondary Education. This where at the end of year 11 when most of you are 16, if not going to 16, will be doing a set of exams for a set of subjects you chose minus the core three. The results of those exams will act as a qualifications which would help you decide what you want to do after Luna Nova."

She turned away from the board with an apologetic smile on her face. "I'm laying it a bit thick aren't I?"

"Very Miss." Diana Cavendish said without any hesitation, her deep blue eyes staring straight at Croix, who turn stared right back with a mask of neutrality. "And my name is Diana Cavendish."

Croix nodded in acknowledgement, a familiar feeling churning inside her as she struggled to not see and replace deep blue eyes with her own dull green. "I'm aware, your own reputation precedes you Diana, many teachers including the headmistress have a high expectation from you." She turned away from her to face the rest of the class. "Don't expect it from me."

"Anyways that's future stuff and we don't generally talk about future stuff here, that's mainly geography." Without looking she turns off the projector and stands, taking out the only marker she didn't give to Chariot as she walks to the whiteboard and draws a very simple, very chibified skeleton before she turned to her class with a smile. "We talk about dead things."

What she thought was a funny, dark humour joke apparently wasn't as no one really laughed, maybe a few people snickered from disbelief that she just broke down the bare basics of studying history in one crass sentence but nothing else. "Well," Croix nodded, mainly to herself cause she found herself in this awkward situation. "Talk about dead silence." Again silence, again she should really learn when to stop beating a dead horse. "I should really stop making dead jokes shouldn't I?" She watched as several if not all of her students nodded and she shrugged. "Well it is true y'know."

"Yeah but it sounds weird." Someone said, a girl with brown hair and hazel eyes sitting next to Diana. Croix looked at her expectantly and she stared back confused before it finally hit her. "Oh, Hannah England Miss."

"Well Hannah, history is extremely weird when you look back. Aristocrats victorians had a eating mummy phase actually no that's the whole 17th century europeans really. King George I was german instead of english and the parliament of iceland is the oldest, active parliament ever since it was made in 930 AD. Also spoilers for what we are going to learn farmers hired painters to draw their sheep to send to other farmers to make them jealous." Croix listed, putting a finger out for each point she made. "So yes, history is weird but only when it is placed out of context."

"Hey question?" Akko asked, raising her hand. "Are we going to learn about weird stuff in history for the year or for the rest of the lesson, cause uh I'm confused?"

"We aren't learning anything today," Croix said as she leant on the against the board, tapping the lid of the maker against her chin thinking, "Well I'll learn your names but you guys won't learn much cause this is like a general talk, something easy since we all just came back from the holidays. Next lesson I will start teaching you what the school board wants to teach you unfortunately, but you get your books and what not."

"Wait what do you mean by unfortunately?" Lotte asked, confused, which caused a chain reaction for other people to be confused as well.

Croix sighed as she ran her hand through her hair. "Well, the history taught is predominantly european and western centered. I mean it is important considering we are going to discuss the slave trade at some point and how Britain got involved with it as well as the industrial revolution and the first world war but I am annoyed that it's the only stuff being taught." She gives the class a sad smile and shrug, "I prefer teaching and learning the histories of other countries other than the US and British especially since history can be dull, dark and depressing."

She lets the class settle, allowing her words to pour over them. It was something she always does with the year 9s. She says something that they don't expect to hear and question, and sometimes, if she was lucky like now, she would give them something to question, history always should be questioned, it used to be written by the winners after all.

"But don't worry," Croix smiled catching everyone's attention as she paused for a dramatic effect. "Cause I will teach those different history lessons anyways." She waited for a response, anything from a widened look to a sound of distress, so far she got a mix review of happiness, shock and scepticism? "It will be fun, random things that only will be for one topic, like pirates or a certain period like the Sengoku Jidai or-"

"You know about the Sengoku Jidai period!?" Yelled Akko who stood up from her chair, smile wide and in awe.

Croix in return, smiled back as an excited thrill spun inside her. "You know about Sengoku Jidai?"

"Know it? I LOVE IT!" Akko laughed, throwing her arms up in the air as her feet tapped against the ground in a rapid pace. The general excitement and enthusiasm Akko showed towards the historical period full of betrayals, ninjas and samurais was almost enough to make Croix forget that she had a lesson and just delve into the past like she always does, almost. Croix laughed at Akko's energy but she knew that as much as they wanted to, she can't spend the whole day just talking to someone who knows the topic, she has a job to teach after all.

"I enjoy your enthusiasm Akko but-"

"Have you heard the legend that Toyotomi Hideyoshi made a castle overnight whilst he and Oda Nobunaga were doing a siege?"

Croix blinked at the sudden interruption, completely caught off guard with the sudden information. "Yes, it was against Saito clan in 1566." Croix stated, trying so hard not to say anything else cause she knows it would just lead to a long discussion.

"What about the warrior monks of Hongan-ji and-"

"Heidi?" Croix cutted in with a sad smile, "I heard of them as well, what happened at Heidi was a tragic story." Akko's energy dropped as her wide smile faded into understanding as she nodded their heads, leaving both of them to have a moment of silence in remembrance of the Heidi warrior monks. "How do you know about the period anyways Akko?" Croix asked after the moment was over.

"Oh, I'm from Japan Professor Croix."

"Huh," Croix said as she quickly processed the information, come to think of it, that does explain why she knew gullible was on the ceiling. "Well then if you want you can call me Sensei. Anyways, enough of the Sengoku Jidai, I can teach that on a later date." Croix was about to continue something else but the bell to signal the end of first period went off. Except it wasn't the usual bell that would just repeat one loud sound seven times, it was the beginning of a song, the short catchy song that was kinda familiar.

Croix snickered at the sound, trying so hard to hide the impish grin on her face as she watched her class look around in confusion, some hesitantly stood up and started to pack. On her desk her phone was vibrating, her text tone kept ringing and made many students stare accusingly at her. Croix gave them a helpless shrug when someone's eyes widened. Amanda stared at Croix, mouth hung open, index finger wavering as she pointed accusingly at Croix. Croix caught her reaction, laughed with a guilty smile and winked.

Over the alarm, an iconic lined played out and someone in the room screamed.

"SOMEBODY ONCE TOLD ME-"

"CROIX MERIDIES WHAT DID YOU DO?" Chariot came through the door in the same time as the music, making Croix cackle at the uncanny timing.

"WELCOME TO YEAR NINE GIRLS NOW OFF YOU GO!" Croix shouted over the chaos as Chariot stormed through the girls to reach her. Croix laughed at her, enjoying the chaos she created before Chariot slide over a table so that she is in the middle of the horseshoe design, looking right at Croix who was closer to the front.

Right now, where they are like a metre apart, Croix can see the fire in her eyes and the annoyance on her face and the scowl with a hint of laughter on her lips. It screamed that this entire thing was stupid and a waste of time and that is annoyed at herself that she was enjoying this as much as Croix is. It amused her greatly. "Chariot!" Croix cheered, raising up her arms in triumph. "What do you think of my music taste?"

"Croix I have no time right now just please turn it back to normal please." Chariot asked as she edged closer, Croix moved back as she raised a questioning brow at her. "Oh come on, we all know you're the one behind this!"

"Oh I know Chariot my dear," Croix smirked as she waited for the remains of the class to filter away, "But what are you going to do about it?" Croix mentally thanking Lotte in her head as she closed the door on her way out, not only it would limit the amount eyes that would be watching them but it opens the possibilities of what would happen behind closed doors. Chariot continued walking forwards and Croix continued to step back till her back hit the wall and they both stopped moving. The stupid meme song was gone now, it was gone after the first song and chorus so Chariot didn't really have a reason for her to stay, at least not one that Croix knows about. "Especially now with no one looking."

Her words were met with actions instantaneously as Chariot closed the distance but she paused when her hands were up and pinning Croix's arms to the whiteboard, faces inches apart and when Croix wore a gentle smile instead of a taunting smirk. Croix stared right in her eyes and watched as the wildfire in them slowly dimmed to a soft candle light, where the scowl on her lips slowly turned upwards, where the tension just mellowed to a soft breeze. Croix savoured the sight and the feelings and like a bottle of alcohol she drank it all in and went back to being reckless.

"So," Croix laughed, the smirk back where it should've been when Chariot approached as she pushed Chariot's arms off, one of them still holding the remote that allowed her to even control the alarm sound in the first place. "What _are_ you gonna do about it art teacher?" She teased, calling her the wrong subject once again, a quick sure fire way to get them back on the lane they were used to and always has been using. She ignored the quick shake of Chariot's head and the double blink of clarity and how the softness of her face was shielded again with the fierceness she always known Chariot to have.

Chariot scowled at her, snatched the remote from Croix, turned off the homemade alarm and shoved it back into Croix's arms without a single word, something that somewhat surprised Croix. Who knows, maybe she wanted to get out of what just happened as much as Croix did? Maybe she just was just dazed and forgot who was in front of her? Who really knows? Without anything else to anchor her to the room, Chariot walked out. Croix sighed, she ran her fingers through her hair and close her eyes, relishing that moment seconds ago before snapping awake at the sounds of another class started to walk in.

"Hey Professor Croix why was Professor Chariot was in the room?"

Croix smirked at them, forcing herself to the role of the teacher as she went to her desk and got herself ready whilst the class started to settle themselves in. "Just another war of the humanities," Croix smiled as she stood up and got ready to teach. "Don't think too much about it."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N There is an end A/N for this part but hey thanks for reading and liking this self indulgent story lmao I hope you enjoy reading this!**

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"Croix sensei!" Croix paused in her step and turned, a hmm sound on her lips that formed into a smile when she realised who was coming up to her. A girl with a wide smile, red eyes and long hair in a ponytail.

"Akko," She said as she turned around fully to give the girl her full attention. It has been a week since the start of the year and Akko has done nothing but earn her respects, granted she was a bit loud at times and talked a lot during lessons but she was earnest in her work and what academic flaws she had she made up in energy and sincereness. "What brings you to me this early in the morning?"

"When are you going to start doing the special history lessons?" She asked, not wasting any time to speak, her eyes brimming with excitement. Croix grinned at her question as a wave of pride washed over her, another wave came when she remembered that this was the same girl who Chariot praised over the course of last year as well as the growing prospect of her taking History instead of Geography for GCSE.

"Like I said, it depends on how good you guys are doing with the homework."

"When are we going to get our books marked then Croix sensei?" Akko asked, going in for the brief pause in Croix's answer, this time Croix couldn't help but chuckle at the sheer enthusiasm Akko had for her subject. It is surprising really, that this joyful enthusiastic girl was the same one she realised, Finneran despised due to her distracting her english classes, really it made no sense.

"I was getting to that," she said before tapping the set of books under her arm. "You will get them next time we meet in History, this is just the last batch that I need to do." Immediately she adjusted her hold on the books. Before they were tucked under her arms but now she held them high and out of reach of Akko's view when she tried to look at what haven't been marked.

"I just wanted to see," Akko grumbled when she stopped trying to sneak a peek on whose books haven't been marked. "I worked really hard on that! I even got more books from the library than Diana!" She exclaimed, hands up in the air to emphasis her point.

The mention of Diana caused Croix to look at her with curiosity, a brow raised as she tilted her head. "Oh?" She asked, "Is that a big deal?"

Croix has mixed feelings on Diana, an opinion that brings much discourse if brought up in the break room. It's not a big surprise, considering all if not most staff saw her as the golden child, the future Cambridge student that will bring honour and prestige to Luna Nova, she was Miss Perfect, and Croix has to agree. Diana was the perfect student, she did her work, discussed the topics in class and was someone Croix wouldn't mind debating with on certain historical topics. Theoretically she was someone Croix shouldn't have mixed opinions about but here she was having them anyways.

"Yeah!" Akko said, "She always spend her times in the library with Hannah and Barbara in the breaks." Akko looked to the side with a sigh, feet tapping against the floor as she looks up to the library on the second floor of the building, completely ignoring the sudden devoidance on Croix's face. "We tried to convince her to come with us outside to the field in the summer and she always denied, except for the one time Amanda stole her book where she chased her outside." Akko laughed at the memory as she turned back to Croix. "Apparently Amanda was banned from the library afterwards cause Diana is friends with the librarian somehow."

"I see…" Croix mused, her voice a bit more distant and sullen than usually. She corrected herself though by the time Akko turned to face her with a confused look on her face. "Well, I will try to remember that when I mark." Croix smiled, voice back to its normal cool tone that it eased Akko to thinking that nothing was wrong. "It was nice talking to you Akko but I need to get going now." Croix said as she tucked the books under her arms once more before walking away, a casual wave to dismiss Akko. "Staff meetings and what not." And just like she left Akko alone in the corridor whilst her mind left the world of the living to explore haunted memories of the past.

* * *

It's the first week back in September and it was raining, it has been raining ever since school has started and the constant onpour has been drumming on the school library building like it was a music lesson. Due to common weeks worth of rain and cold wind, the usually deserted library was full of chatter, full of children who had no desire to read or follow the common rules of a library. They sat there and talked in loud booming voices, sometimes those who lurk in the corners or in big friendship huddles would snack on a light meal, a sandwich or a bag of crisps.

The wild chatter from the upper years was silenced however when the door of the library shut with a slight bang and the person who entered removed the hood of their jacket to reveal a bundle of messy lavender hair. The silence of the upper years carried over to the lower years when they became aware of how loud they are and made themselves stop in the silent awkwardness. The stranger paid no attention to the sudden growth of tension in the air with their entrance as they walked through frozen student body, completely at ease. Her footsteps were the only thing that dared to echo in the library, each step overwhelming the downpour outside, forcing it to only speak in secluded whispers.

"Who is she?" A child, perhaps someone who just came to the school as a year 7 student whispered under her breath as the student in question walked past her. Her question was given no verbal answer as the lavender haired girl glanced at her from the corner of her bright poisonous green eyes. The eye contact didn't last long though as the student nodded to the librarian before entering the door left to the librarian desk, the door that only members of staff walked through.

When the door closed, life entered the library room once more, the sound of the rain lashing on the roof became more prominent as the chatter and sound started to rise again. The girl who dared to ask a question let out a big sigh of relief before jolting up as a sudden hand clasped on her shoulder.

"She is Croix Meridies," an older student answered, one that held the different colour pin on their shirt that gave them the position of prefect. "She may be a year older than you but I recommend you don't talk to her."

"Yeah, she might consider your kindness as a waste of time." A student who sat next to the prefect commented on. The prefect then slapped her hand across their arm in a not so subtle way to tell them off. "What?" The student questioned, "I'm just saying the truth, the 'prodigy' needs her space."

"Is she actually a prodigy though?" The young naive year 7 student asked.

The student who insulted Croix turned to her with a grim smile. "Nah kid, she's a monster."

* * *

Croix blinked once, then twice. The first was the signal to wake herself up from runaway thoughts and memories, the following two was to help her recognise the voices behind the wooden door that had the plack Break Room inside after she mentally woken up. She sighed to herself, running a hand through her hair before pausing at a familiar voice, _her_ voice. And like simple flick of a light switch, the mental gloom within Croix's mind vanished and a smirk started to form on her lips. Without further hesitation, Croix opened the door to the break room.

In an instant, Croix's senses were overwhelmed with the bundle of noise, from teachers chatting to each other about anything to the sound of papers rifling and the kettle boiling. The smell of various smells of teas were interwoven with the rich scent of coffee and the harmonious blend forcing Croix to make a u- turn to go to the coffee pot instead of her initial decision to the couch that held Marjolaine the music teacher and Chariot Du Nord.

"Pisces," she grinned as she approached the mostly blonde woman was making herself some tea. Pisces turned to look at her, gifting her a kind smile as she opened her arms and gave Croix a hug. Croix obviously returned it and was even willing to place her books down to give her the hug that Pisces deserved. She is one of the kindest teachers Croix ever had the pleasure to work with, and unlike some people in the room, if Croix was to play a practical joke on her she wouldn't mind and would even dare to play one back.

"How are you today?" Croix asked when they broke away from the hug. Pisces smiled at her before extending a closed hand but with a thumb up a short distance away from her body, the british sign for saying good. Croix nodded at the answer as she stood next to her preparing her own hot beverage for the morning. "How's the year 7s? Do I have to talk to some of them?"

Pisces shook her head and paused stirring her mug to look at Croix head on. "You don't need to worry," She signed, moving her hands in a way that would not sense to anyone else if they didn't know sign language. "It was rough after a few lessons because both of us needs to adjust but it will be fine."

"If you say so Pisces." Croix concedes as she sips the raw bitterness of black coffee and allows the flavour to wash over her, "Don't hesitate to speak to me when they are being rude though."

"But how would I speak to you Croix? I have no voice?"

Croix almost choked on her coffee in surprise as she turned around to not do a spit take on Pisces. She lightly coughed out the liquid that was stuck on her throat whilst Pisces patted on her back to help her out. "That was a good one, caught me off guard." Croix nodded as she managed to get most of the mishap out of her body. Pisces grinned at her, laughter evident in the teal irises of her eyes.

"Good," Pisces signed before nudging Croix to look at the couch where a certain red head was sitting. "Now do me a favour and catch Chariot off guard, I got a bet with Nelson today."

"It's been a week and you guys are already betting," Croix chuckled at her before following her gaze to Chariot who focusing all on her attention to none other than Marjolaine who glanced at her from the corner of the eye. "And you got Marjo to help as well?" Croix asked as she turned her head to Pisces.

"You act as if Marjo getting involved with you two is a surprise."

Croix shrugged before taking a quick sip of her coffee. "You got a fair point." Pisces looked at her, catching her eye until Croix stared at her weirdly. "What?" Pisces only responds by looking back at the two teachers and Croix finally understood the staring. "Oh alright, I'll get going."

Croix sipped her mug as she continued forward, trying to figure a way to catch Chariot off guard, should she push into her as she lands on the couch? No that could cause the coffee to spill , should she instead cover her eyes and play a game of guess who? No she's still holding her mug and she isn't putting that down any time soon.

She moves around the couch, her mind quickly trying to finalise what she should do to try and catch Chariot off guard. She nodded to a passing Nelson, shrugged to a glaring Finneran as she sat next to Chariot. Just in time to see her sigh, take off her glasses and shut her eyes with fingers pinching the bridge of her nose.

"I'm not afraid to hit you with a pillow Marjo, but please don't force me to do it."

"Are you afraid to hit on me Leonardo de Chario?" Croix chipped in straight away, hiding her smirk with another sip of her coffee as Marjo leaned on the cushions of the couch with a snicker at the new nickname. Croix turned to Chariot when she finished her small sip, eyes naturally drawn to the soft frown on Chariot's face and the way her red eyes flicker between amusement and annoyance before settling on confusement.

"Leonardo de Chariot?"

Croix nodded, her free hand gesturing to Chariot. "You are one of the greatest artist I ever known, " Croix praised making Chariot raise a suspicious brow at her, "So much finesse in colouring in geography maps."

This time, Marjo couldn't help but laugh, turning away to hide the laughter in the shoulder of her blouse whilst Chariot groaned in her hands but Croix couldn't help but notice the subtle shakes of hidden laughter of her head. "Shut the hell up Necrophiliac."

Croix chuckled at the endearing term before tutting at her, "Come Chariot, that's sooo last year, come up with a new nickname for me."

Chariot looked at her, a daring smirk on her face and Croix grinned back eagerly. Now this look, this fierce, daring look was the look Croix was looking for last week. It was that taunting smirk and heated flames in her red eyes that Croix wished was on her face in that history room days ago.

"Alright then Grave Digger."

"Grave Digger?" Croix asked as she placed her coffee down on the table before closer, voice lower than usual. "I expected better Leonardo DiChario."

"Leonardo DiChario?" Chariot asked as leant on the couch, all attention on Croix as she too leaned forward. "You are getting dull if you keep on repeating the same name…" Chariot's eyes roam over Croix's body before stopping to stare directly at her eyes, voice merging to a sultry whisper. "...Naruto."

And just like that the name game that they were playing ended and they ended up leaning against each other as waves of laughter left their mouth. "Fuck you," Croix wheezed, words spilling through the onpour of slowly sobering laughter. Then with a final dying wave of laughter leaving her tongue, Croix turned to Chariot. "I regret ever telling you that I shared the same first name with the person who voiced Naruto."

Chariot grinned at her, the last bits of her laughter leaving her smiling lips before she playfully stuck her tongue out at her. "I win," she cheered, her happy gleeful smile infecting Croix enough to smile back before it faded away to a sarcastic sigh of defeat, turning her head to look away from Chariot in a melodramatic way, green eyes acting as if they're looking for the vast horizon of the ocean in a simple teacher's break room.

"Alright I admit defeat," she said, casting a hand out to the supposed horizon in a lazy, dramatic fashion. "I suppose I can give you one pity point to get a headstart in our little war."

Chariot snorted as scooted away from Croix, sitting closer to Marjo. Her red eyes were bemused as she watched Croix's dramatic form, falter then flop like a fish on land. The lazy reached out hand wove a sudden frantic dance to the top of the couch as Croix's calm, looking out of the horizon eyes widened, her body leaned backwards, her hand not being able to grip the couch in time. Thus causing her to fall back, head conveniently landing on the pillow atop of Chariot's lap with a slight groan from embaressment.

"As if I need one after last week." Chariot said as she moved her head to fully shadow Croix's face.

Croix paused in the mental suffering of embarrassment and blinked. Her green eyes were fully absorbed with Chariot's coy taunt in her expression that it somehow made the slight tickle of her long red hair on her face even more noticeable. "After today should it be 3-0 Croix," Chariot whispered. "Or shall I give you a pity point to at least give you something in our little war."

Croix smiled at her with green eyes soft and the smirk tender and sweet. It was a rare expression, one that doesn't appear on her usual mischievous look but it was one that fit her so well that it caught Chariot off guard. "Ever the merciful aren't you Chariot," Croix quietly chuckled back, voice soft and sweet like her expression as she lifts a hand and gently pushes the bridge of Chariot's slowly slipping glasses back into position.

It was in that moment the world stilled, their eyes not leaving each others as thousands of silent words were spoken between them but not a single one heard. It was one of those silence that seemed to last forever when you're deep within the gravity of it, so it made sense when it finally shattered, pulling them to the world of reality with the sound of a book slamming together.

"Whilst Chariot may be merciful Croix I'm not." Finneran said as the slam of the book in her hands jolted the pair awake, subtle twin red blushes of embarrassment on both their cheeks. "Now stop flirting with Chariot and get off her," she scolded and like a student Croix nodded with a roll of her eyes and got off Chariot, sitting comfortably next to her before reaching for her previously ignored coffee. "Actually just don't sit next to Chariot Croix, before you extend this staff meeting even further."

"We aren't students Anne," Croix said before sipping her coffee as she stood up and sat next Pisces on another couch,, allowing Marjo to take her place instead of just sitting on the arm rest of the couch. "We can behave when we need to y'know."

"The fact that we take bets if you can or can not is enough evidence to show that you can't," Finneran said in an instant, not even looking up at Croix as she quickly organised the pieces of paper in front of her before looking at Badcock. "Which brings us to the first matter at hand, Samantha if you will."

Samantha Badcock nodded her head at her before peering down at the paper in front of her and sighed. "On the last day of term there was a bet if Croix would do something on the first week back and on what day, for those who lost please abide by the rules of the bets and give the money by the end of the week." She then looked up at Croix, her brown eyes trying to kill her as much as possible before continuing the passage through gritted teeth. "As such those who won, those who betted on Monday, have bragging rights for the rest of the week."

"How much did you lose Badcock?" Croix grinned, ignoring the amount of death glares she can feel on her skin. "With that look it seems like a lot."

"That's all I have to say Anne," Badcock said, putting down the piece of paper, completely ignoring Croix as she turned back to Finneran. Croix snickered under her breath, only half paying attention to the next news Finneran has to share with the entire staff which turns out to be something about the long lunch lines, a topic Croix found extremely boring after a few seconds.

She huffed under her breath and glanced at Chariot who was too busy focusing at Finneran to pay her any attention. She then looked at Marjo who caught her glance, glanced at Chariot before giving Croix the look. The look that meant they were going to have a nice friendly chat about what happened early on that couch and it was a look that made Croix turn away the moment she saw it.

"So," she whispered to Pisces when her shifting and fussing made Pisces to turn her way. "How much money did you win from this bet?" Pisces simply grinned at her, giving a thumbs up and casting a subtle glance to Badcock. "You won from her?" Croix asked, a proud smirk on her face.

Pisces shook her head as she signed instead to her, "I won from everyone, par a few lucky teachers," she added quickly before turning some attention back to Finneran, her hands still moving though. "I snagged a couple hundred from Badcock though."

"As expected from Luna Nova's most kindest pool shark," Croix murmured under her breath, her mind quickly remembering the amount of times she lost to Pisces in a game of pool in the local bars before glancing one more time to Chariot then back to Pisces. "Which department is getting it this time?" This time Pisces simply smiled to her and kept silent which Croix ponder on what it mean until the talk of school trips came up.

"On the last topic of the agenda, I am here to inform you that apart from the annual skiing trip, during the spring half term there will be a week trip to Paris for the year nines." Finneran stated causing a stir amongst the teachers, Croix included as she, out of instinct, glanced to Chariot then stared accusingly at Pisces who simply smiled back. "We will decide later on who is going to where though it is already decided that both Pisces and Chariot will go accompany the year nines. Pisces because she is the senior teacher who is planning the trip and Chariot due to her being from France in the first place."

"Can I go to the Paris trip?" Croix asked making all eyes turn to her. "What? I can behave outside of school," Croix defended, crossing her arms in annoyance at the unspoken lack of trust. "And I can speak french, it's better having two french speaking teachers than one."

Finneran eyed her, scepticism obvious in her face. "You may say that but I for one never heard you speak french before. Are you sure you're not confusing it with italian?" Croix rolled her eyes as she stood up and walked to the centre of the room and looked directly at Chariot Then, without stopping, sentences of french left her mouth so easily it was if it was her first language.

* * *

"...tu es la pomme de terre la plus belle." Croix ended with a graceful smile on her face as she closed her arms in a victorious pose. She turned to the other teachers in the room who looked at her with a mix of surprise and scepticism? No wait that was from Finneran, who cares what she thinks. She then turned to Chariot and her smile grew even more. Chariot's red eyes were wide and confused, her mouth hung opened and closed as she struggled to speak, probably because she couldn't comprehend her amazing french.

"So what do you think?" Croix asked to everyone but she knew, and everyone else knew, it was question more directed to Chariot.

"Did you just-" Chariot began, raising a finger to point at Croix, her mixture of emotions now focusing on one expression, disbelief.

"I did," Croix admitted with a nod, the corners of lips turned more upwards, creating this impish look that made Chariot narrow her eyes in accusation.

"Did you just call me a potato?"

Croix gasped at her, placing a hand over her heart in shock as her eyes widened in surprise. "How dare you think I would call you a potato Chariot." She said, her voice in fake aghast. "I value you more than just a simple vegetable."

Chariot scoffed at that, laughter hidden behind the scowl she has, crossing her arms as she looked Croix with a raised brow. "Oh really?"

"Yes!" Croix exclaims, her grin wide as she struggled not to laugh at the joke she hasn't even said. "You are the most beautiful apple I have ever known Chariot," She said and it became even harder for her to hold in her laughter for the joke when Chariot joins in with badly hidden giggles. "Yes, you are the most beautiful apple of- not of my eye," she quickly clarified as she faced the others before putting all of her attention on Chariot with the corners of her eyes crinkled, smile wide and a hand over her mouth to muffle the giggles.

"But of the earth."

Straight away there was a choir of groans and chuckles from teachers finally getting the joke both of them struggled to hide whilst Croix and Chariot finally released the laughter they were hiding away. "Thank you thank you," Croix said, ignoring the boos coming from Marjolaine. "I will be here all day cause I have no other choice." Croix laughed as she bowed to various people. "What do you think of my french mademoiselle?" She asked with a wink after she bowed to Chariot.

"You're terrible," Chariot laughed, shaking her head as she leaned on the back of the couch, "You and that joke are terrible."

"Aha!" Croix said with a smile as leaned forward to Chariot. "But my french is good enough for France right my beautiful apple of the earth?"

Chariot laughed again as she stole a pillow from Marjo's lap and used it to lightly smack Croix away from her face. "Call me that again, the pillow won't be the only thing hitting your face."

"Yeah next time it's her lips." Marjo commented as she drank her coffee, her eyes went wide though when Chariot raised the pillow high and promptly shook her head as an apology and left the couch with Chariot's laughter following close behind.

"Alright enough chatter, Croix we will pin the idea somewhere but for now we got to go," Finneran said as she looked at the clock on the wall. "Meeting dismissed, everyone head to class."

One by one the teachers filed out the break room, Croix stayed in her seat however since she didn't have lessons till after break which gave her two hours to mark and plan a few lessons. "See you, Apple of the earth," she called to Chariot as she left the couch and headed towards the door.

Chariot rolled her eyes before leaning over the couch to ruffle Croix's hair. "See you Pity Point," she laughed as Croix tried to get her hands out her hair and in turn try to ruffle her hair which she managed to do.

"Go and teach your colouring in skills Chariot," Croix laughed when Chariot's hair and her own hair became messy enough.

"Good luck marking the analysis of dead things Croix," Chariot smiled back as she finally left the break room with a wave. Croix chuckled at that before the smile on her face turned into a sombre look as she groaned into her hands.

"Damn you really have fallen for her huh?" Marjo commented, scaring Croix as she lift her head out of her hands so quickly it made Marjo raise an accusing eyebrow at her. "I only meant that as a joke but now I'm curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat," Croix snapped back, ignoring the heated embarrassed flush to her cheeks as she closed the break room door, ignoring how Marjo instantly said the proper ending to the old phrase, ignoring everything about the situation as she went to the coffee table and made another mug of coffee to distract herself. "Why are you here anyways?"

Marjo shrugged as she headed over to the table, this time getting a new mug for tea. "Same reason as you Meridies. I don't got students to teach." Croix usually loves Marjo, she really does, she's great friend and an even better person to mess around with but right now she desperately wished for her to leave. "Anyways, I need to ask you something Croix, something about Chariot."

"Why did you come back here to the break room? Didn't you leave?" Croix asked, ignoring Marjo's words, ignoring the smirk on Marjo face as if she was a hunter catching her prey whilst trickles of laughter left her lips.

"I never left Croix."

"Bullshit." Croix replied in an instant as she poured her coffee, got her students' books that were nearby and headed towards the coffee table again.

"Big mood at how much you're denying your apparent and transparent feelings for Chariot Du Nord, Meridies" Marjo countered as she followed her, in one hand year 7 music theory books and in the other a cup of tea. "Especially how earlier on today you two just have the trashy romance book moments of how both people forget that they're in a public area."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Croix said as she got a purple pen from her pockets and opened the first book, a blatant signal that this conversation needs to end so that she can work.

"Alright, let's talk about some history then," Marjo continued as she sat near Croix, purposely ignoring the signal for her to shut up but the term of history makes Croix stop reading and look up to Marjo. A sense of confliction chilled her bones when Marjo's face had one of the biggest smiles she has ever seen. "Let's talk about what happened on June 25th of 2017-"

"We will not talk about that day." Her own voice was surprisingly more stern and cold than what Croix thought it would be but the effect was extremely effective.

Marjo's eyes were wide, her hands were up in a defensive and apologetic stance. "Alright fine, fine we won't talk about that day today but it happened and what happened last week happened and what happened-"

"What's your point Marjo?" Croix snapped, shutting the book in her hands. There is a small brief of silence between, a silence where the tension started to brew and thicken, it became so thick Croix was willing to speak if Marjo didn't want to just so that she doesn't suffocate under it.

"My point is," Marjo said delicately, softly like Croix was the child whose dog suddenly died and Marjo was the bringer of the bad news. "You can deny it all you want Croix, you can fight yourself all you want but you can't stop it when it happens and when you don't realise it happens or maybe you do and you just hate yourself when it happens which you really shouldn't cause it's not a bad thing."

"It is a bad thing." Croix said bluntly as she tossed aside the book, it was clear she wasn't going to do any work for at least 30 minutes just how it was clear that she and Marjo were talking about the same thing that Croix tried to desperately to avoid.

"It's not a bad thing Croix," Marjo assured as she watched Croix stand up and pace around the room.

"It is a bad thing when you're me Marjo," Croix said as she paused in her step and turn to Marjo, hands up high in exasperation. "I mean look at my history!"

"Which history?"

Croix opened her mouth to clarify but then paused, waves of varied expressions moved across her face before she closed her mouth and dismissed Marjo's question with a wave of her wand and continued to pace around again. "Ignore that actually, just know it's a bad thing for me."

Marjo sighed as she got up from the couch and stood opposite of Croix, arms crossed over her chest. "You know for historian you really don't like talking about history."

"Actually, I like talking about other people's history." Croix corrected as she turned around to Marjo. "Mine is terrible so I won't talk about it. Anyways we're getting off topic," Croix realised as she raked her fingers through her hair to relieve some stress. "Look it's a bad thing cause I wasn't supposed to… you know."

Marjo looked at her, questioning Croix's every movement as she stood there, one hand through her hair, the other loosening the knot of her tie. "You know?"

"You know!"

"Croix we may deny this but we're in our late 20s at least, we are not so intelligent in modern day slang as we were before so please don't try to educate me this early in the morning, allow me to cringe my students when I mess up."

Croix sighed as she looked at her. "It's not even slang to be honest."

"Even more reason to be clear about it."

Another blanket of silence was tossed over them and there the awkward tensions started to rise once more. "Okay then," Croix said as she looked a the door and the surrounding vicinity, just to make sure no else overhears, just to make sure its a secret that would only lie within these walls. The moment she saw that the room only held them and the windows and doors were closed tight she took a deep breath and looked at Marjo straight in the eyes.

"Look, this doesn't leave the room Marjo." Her voice was sharp, cold and as serious as the heavy gaze her eyes give to Marjo standing a couple feet away. "You don't speak of this to anyone or anywhere that I don't think it is safe to talk about, and if you do. I will be pissed and we don't want that."

"Got it," Marjo nodded in a frantic manner, mimicking zipping up her mouth and tossing away the key. Upon seeing this half of the weight on Croix's shoulders left with the exhale of her breath.

"Alright, it's a bad thing because... " Croixed stopped as her eyes closed and she struggled to spit the truth out of her lips. "You're right. I wasn't supposed to fall for Chariot." She hears the predictable gasp and slap of hands against the mouth and supposedly this would be the moment where she opens her eyes and laugh at the stupid look on Marjo's face. But she knew if she did she would remember that this is real and it's not some dream or nightmare in her head. She would recognise by the shock, maybe happy look Marjo's face that the feelings she shouldn't have, the feelings she doesn't deserve are real.

"But I did fall for her and-" she paused again to swallow the unease in her throat but the last words were still tangled in the incoherent mess of her emotions and danced around her tongue that when it finally came out, it was nothing more than a straggled, broken whisper. "That's the bad thing."

"And how is this a bad thing?" Marjo's words are carried with the sound footsteps, footsteps that paused a foot away.

"It's a bad thing cause I'm not supposed to feel this way about her Marjo!" Croix said, finally opening her eyes, expressing her full fear about this. "We're friends, we're good friends, we're close friends. The fact that we don't have feelings for each other is the reason why we did this goddamn war against in the first place!"

Croix raised her hands up in the sky before heading over to the couch and slouching herself there, a hand already running through her hair and massaging her temples. "We had a mutual agreement on making these miserable kids have some fun time cause life sucked for us in secondary and we didn't want the same to happen for them. We knew our actions would cause people to think that we're a thing but we never cared as long as we don't think that we can became a romantic thing, so we just stayed as best friends who are assholes to each other." Croix sighed as Marjo sat down next to her, " Don't even think about telling me to tell her, cause I will never, especially cause I don't want to turn our long close friendship into some uncomfortable mess."

"Why would it turn into an uncomfortable mess? She's just as gay as you are."

Croix looked at her, face deadpanned as she stared at Marjo's confused face before answering her question when she realised she's genuinely confused. "She's demiromantic remember?"

In a span of a few seconds, a look of understanding dawned on Marjo's face. "Oh…"

"Oh is correct," Croix mused, "Not to mention I don't know how she would react to this, how comfortable she is about these things and I don't see any reason why she would fall for me."

"Bull shit," Marjo scoffed as she leaned a bit closer. "You're Croix fucking Meridies, you went through a lot of shit, you do a lot of cool shit and not to mention, you're already like great friends with her, emotional connection and everything AND you're so fucking hot."

Croix gave a hollow laugh to her praise, her mind flashing backing to years ago, to a place she never wants to be in again. "Sure," she agreed, much to the surprise of Marjo. Croix turns to her. "Let's just say you're right with these praise, but she deserves so much better than me Marjo." Her words also meant another thing, it was subtle, hidden but it was louder than what her verbal words. It spoke of the fact that Croix didn't deserve her but before Marjo can say anything to investigate the matter even further, the alarm for first period rang.

"Fuck I forgot to mark my books," Marjo cursed as she went to the coffee table and collected her unfinished work as Croix sighed, ruffling her hair one more time before standing up too. "We will talk about this later Croix, right now we're putting a pin on it."

"Just make sure not to tell anyone before I put a pin into you," Croix replied, moving herself to her last batch of books to finally mark. Her eyes found the curled, fancy penmanship of Diana Cavendish and suddenly all of the previous conversation was forgotten as curiosity flooded her senses.

"Do you mind if I ask one question though before I go?" Croix turned her body to her, eyebrow raised as she waited for it. "When did you fall her was it recent? Have you been holding this for a while?"

Croix, despite every notion telling her not to, smiled bashfully at Marjo, eyes looking to the ground after a few seconds instead of keeping contact. "I told you we don't talk about June 25th Marjo."

"I fucking knew it," Marjo whispered in awe before disbelieving laughter and giddiness left her lips. It was the last thing Croix heard before the wooden door opened then closed leaving Croix into a sense of silence, her eyes slowly growing wider and wider as she reads the passage of homework that Diana Cavendish given in.

* * *

 **A/N:** **If you are wondering about the demiromantic Chariot, I will just say that I like the idea of Chariot or anyone really in lwa be in the aro and/or ace spectrum (I also hc Akko as ace or demisexual) so I decided to implement one. Also it makes sense why they haven't dated before when working together because they have worked together for a couple good years and if Chariot wasn't demi they would be together after the second year they did this war thing, if not the third though that's not the only reason why Croix hesitates, those will be explored on a later date.**

 **Anyways I have hinted a few things, plot wise and backstory wise, introduced some of Croix's friends and how Croix knows sign language, (all the teachers understand sign language but Croix is one of the couple of teachers who know/ learnt how to speak it and is actually bothered to use it).**


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